September 24th, 2008 The Shawshank Redemption had funny parts and very sad parts. Mostly though, it had funny parts. And, OK, it's a prison movie and the aspects of prison don't seem like something I would personally want to deal with, but it made me laugh a lot. There are some good one liners in that film. The characters are pretty funny, and I'm pretty sure prison isn't full of funny people. It's a feel-good movie even though the setting and plot is mostly pretty dark. Actually, it's a pretty feel-bad movie until the end. Then it's a feel-good movie. The ending really forced me to suspend my disbelief. I don't know how probable all of that really was.
October 14th, 2008 Casablanca! Oh, what to say about this film? Half the time I had no idea what was going on. I very much enjoyed Humphrey's soothing voice though. That was nice. Other than that though, I mean, I don't really know how I felt about this movie. I had tried to watch this years ago but fell asleep not even twenty minutes through. So naturally, I was feeling some intense deja vu all week when we watched it. Maybe it's just that it takes serious bright color to catch my attention and allow me to enjoy a movie. The black and white thing really just wasn't doing anything for me. Okay, what else? Well, I don't know. I don't think I loved this movie although I really have seen worse and it is supposed to be a huge classic so maybe I just didn't "get it."
November 25th, 2008 On The Waterfront was a movie I did not entirely understand. I missed the beginning, as I also did with Casablanca, so perhaps I missed a crucial point. Another black and white film, another week spent trying my hardest to gather any and all information, dialogue and plotlines. Marlon Brando: not that much of a looker. The storyline was kind of confusing, or maybe I just could not find the point. It's a mobster movie, there's a dock, Marlon Brando is in trouble for ratting out the top dogs, and the blonde woman falls in love with him. Got it. Piegons on the rooftop, they all get killed. Got it. Happy ending. Got it. I guess I didn't much care for this film because I thought the plot could have used a few more twists. I like my movies with twists.
December 3rd, 2008 The Graduate is a movie I can appreciate. Especially the soundtrack. The movie ended in a way I had not expected, but I think this is because I did not expect the movie to be anything besides Ben Braddock and Mrs. Robinson. The way the cameramen shot this movie I also found very interesting. The underwater shots and such, I did not even know they made underwater cameras. I also thought the script was funny and clever and witty. The adults being portrayed as boring, monotonous, and droning was very symbolic and I could relate so well. The ending I did not love though, I thought it was too cliche.
Late January 2009 The Maltese Falcon was an interesting movie, I guess. It went kind of fast and black and white movies don't really catch my attention in the first place so it didn't really increase my attention span. I sat through the whole movie and still did not understand what the big deal was about that bird statue, partly because I'm pretty sure they only talked about it for about 30 seconds and partly because the actors talked with such a thick and confusing accent in addition to the numerous slang terms thrown in that I had no idea what anyone was really talking about most of the time. I tried using my skill of gathering information from context clues, but it didn't really help. I do not really have any further opinion about this film.
February 20th, 2009 Chinatown was a movie that I missed the middle of and then had no idea what was happening and still have little of an idea of what the movie was about. Jack Nicholson however was fantastic because he is a beautiful man. I don't know what to write about this! I am not such a big fan of the Film Noir genre. I hope this is the last movie of this brand of film that we are watching but maybe if I paid more attention I would actually know what the next movie would be. Uh! This movie was okay. That's all.
May 14th, 2009 Do The Right Thing is a movie that I could appreciate, however oblivious I was to the fact that SPIKE LEE WAS MOOKIE. No one told me that! This movie was a big political smack in the face. It gave a harsh look at the streets of Brooklyn and the racism and prejudices faced by all different races and heritages. I don't know, I liked it. It got pretty intense at the end though! Fire and fighting and murder and police brutality and swearing! FIGHT THE POWER!
May 29th, 2009 One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was an excellent film. I especially loved Billy Bibbit. He is cute! Jack Nicholson in addition to Billy Bibbit is all sorts of goodlooking men taking over the projector screen. The movie itself was pretty good, too, I guess.
The Shawshank Redemption had funny parts and very sad parts. Mostly though, it had funny parts. And, OK, it's a prison movie and the aspects of prison don't seem like something I would personally want to deal with, but it made me laugh a lot. There are some good one liners in that film. The characters are pretty funny, and I'm pretty sure prison isn't full of funny people. It's a feel-good movie even though the setting and plot is mostly pretty dark. Actually, it's a pretty feel-bad movie until the end. Then it's a feel-good movie. The ending really forced me to suspend my disbelief. I don't know how probable all of that really was.
October 14th, 2008
Casablanca! Oh, what to say about this film? Half the time I had no idea what was going on. I very much enjoyed Humphrey's soothing voice though. That was nice. Other than that though, I mean, I don't really know how I felt about this movie. I had tried to watch this years ago but fell asleep not even twenty minutes through. So naturally, I was feeling some intense deja vu all week when we watched it. Maybe it's just that it takes serious bright color to catch my attention and allow me to enjoy a movie. The black and white thing really just wasn't doing anything for me. Okay, what else? Well, I don't know. I don't think I loved this movie although I really have seen worse and it is supposed to be a huge classic so maybe I just didn't "get it."
November 25th, 2008
On The Waterfront was a movie I did not entirely understand. I missed the beginning, as I also did with Casablanca, so perhaps I missed a crucial point. Another black and white film, another week spent trying my hardest to gather any and all information, dialogue and plotlines. Marlon Brando: not that much of a looker. The storyline was kind of confusing, or maybe I just could not find the point. It's a mobster movie, there's a dock, Marlon Brando is in trouble for ratting out the top dogs, and the blonde woman falls in love with him. Got it. Piegons on the rooftop, they all get killed. Got it. Happy ending. Got it. I guess I didn't much care for this film because I thought the plot could have used a few more twists. I like my movies with twists.
December 3rd, 2008
The Graduate is a movie I can appreciate. Especially the soundtrack. The movie ended in a way I had not expected, but I think this is because I did not expect the movie to be anything besides Ben Braddock and Mrs. Robinson. The way the cameramen shot this movie I also found very interesting. The underwater shots and such, I did not even know they made underwater cameras. I also thought the script was funny and clever and witty. The adults being portrayed as boring, monotonous, and droning was very symbolic and I could relate so well. The ending I did not love though, I thought it was too cliche.
Late January 2009
The Maltese Falcon was an interesting movie, I guess. It went kind of fast and black and white movies don't really catch my attention in the first place so it didn't really increase my attention span. I sat through the whole movie and still did not understand what the big deal was about that bird statue, partly because I'm pretty sure they only talked about it for about 30 seconds and partly because the actors talked with such a thick and confusing accent in addition to the numerous slang terms thrown in that I had no idea what anyone was really talking about most of the time. I tried using my skill of gathering information from context clues, but it didn't really help. I do not really have any further opinion about this film.
February 20th, 2009
Chinatown was a movie that I missed the middle of and then had no idea what was happening and still have little of an idea of what the movie was about. Jack Nicholson however was fantastic because he is a beautiful man. I don't know what to write about this! I am not such a big fan of the Film Noir genre. I hope this is the last movie of this brand of film that we are watching but maybe if I paid more attention I would actually know what the next movie would be. Uh! This movie was okay. That's all.
May 14th, 2009
Do The Right Thing is a movie that I could appreciate, however oblivious I was to the fact that SPIKE LEE WAS MOOKIE. No one told me that! This movie was a big political smack in the face. It gave a harsh look at the streets of Brooklyn and the racism and prejudices faced by all different races and heritages. I don't know, I liked it. It got pretty intense at the end though! Fire and fighting and murder and police brutality and swearing! FIGHT THE POWER!
May 29th, 2009
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was an excellent film. I especially loved Billy Bibbit. He is cute! Jack Nicholson in addition to Billy Bibbit is all sorts of goodlooking men taking over the projector screen. The movie itself was pretty good, too, I guess.